‘The game also will mark the fifth straight year Buffalo has opened its season at home, and the Sabres should have a big advantage. Boston is opening its season the night before – as the opponent for the Washington Capitals’ Stanley Cup banner-raising in Capital One Arena.’

‘Obviously, he has nowhere to go but up, but it’s interesting how much implicit faith people both inside and outside the organization have in Botterill to get this job done. He has a few more Stanley Cup rings than, say, Darcy Regier or Tim Murray had.’

‘There are three Hall of Famers who were selected in the first round. There were stars of franchise annals and solid contributors, and there were several choices that simply didn’t pan out – or even play a single game for the team.’

‘“I’m not a fan of that term because we are talking about 18-year-olds,’’ Marr said at the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo. “But he’s got that potential to be that type of player. I’ve said before, 18- and 19-year-olds don’t win teams Stanley Cups. He’ll find his way, he’ll earn his ice time, he’ll put the work in every day and he’s got the elite set of skills and hockey sense, a complete game package, that he’ll be able to step in and contribute. From there, the projection of his path will accelerate to where he does become one of the better players in the league.’’’

‘It’s unclear how many teams would be interested in Lehner. If the Sabres could’ve traded him at the deadline last winter, they likely would’ve completed a deal. While he tended some fine goal at times in Buffalo – he quietly compiled a strong season two years ago – he has never consistently performed like a top-level starter.’

‘”The watch on Ryan O’Reilly has been pretty consistent,” Dreger said with Howard Simon and Jeremy White on Wednesday morning. “My understanding is that Sabres general manager Jason Botterill, not surprisingly, is looking for an excellent return for Ryan O’Reilly, otherwise it doesn’t make a ton of sense that he would move him. So what does excellent return mean? Does that mean he’s campaigning for a spot in the top-five [of the draft]? Some believe that could be the case. That would have to be part of that package. It’s gonna be real interesting to see if that deal gets done, but time is ticking away here.”‘

‘”He’s the best defenseman I’ve every coached, by far. Especially being that young and playing like a man on a man’s level, nobody else has gotten close to that. As far as the players I’ve coached, he’s No. 1. As for players I’ve seen, I think he’s better than a young Erik Karlsson. Of course, Erik is really good right now, and I think he’s better than a young John Klingberg… If he keeps progressing the way he has in the last couple of years, he’s going to pass both of them.”‘